1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to novelty confectionery devices and more particularly to closed storage devices for confectioneries which have not yet been consumed or are not fully consumed by the user.
2. Background Art
Confectioneries, particularly hard candy such as lollipops, have long been popular, including as part of novelty items. For example, Klundt U.S. Pat. No. 6,763,681 issued Jul. 20, 2004 shows a ring, wearable by the user, with a spring connecting a holder for a lollipop, consumable by the user. In Coleman et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,453 issued Jun. 22, 1999 a replaceable lollipop is received atop a cylindrical dispenser for small pieces of candy or gum with a slotted dispensing shaft that is pressed upwardly against the bias of a spring into the small pieces to dispense them through the shaft.
Efforts have been made in the prior art to enclose confectioneries such as lollipops which have not yet been consumed or are not fully consumed by the user. For example, Silverstein et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,136,352 issued Oct. 24, 2000 shows an upwardly spring biased hard candy in a cylindrical barrel with a removable cap.
In at least the mid 1990's Chupa Chups sold a product under the register trademark “PEN POP” which was both a pen and a lollipop; sliding a button down exposed a pen for writing and sliding the same button up retracted the pen and exposed the lollipop through a split top cover (generally styled as the head of a licensed character) for consumption. Later in the 1990's, a similar confectionery product, but without the pen feature was sold by a company doing business as Fantazzmo under the registered trademark “SLIDE POP”. Coleman et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,318 issued Jul. 2, 1996 shows a housing for replaceable hard candy with a split cap or top that is spring biased to close once the candy is manually retracted.
All of these prior art products have the disadvantage that the consumer, usually a child, had to remember to manually move the actuator down to again cover the confectionery after it was exposed and partially consumed. Accordingly, there remains a need for a closed retracted confectionery that will automatically retract the exposed confectionery and close once the consumer releases the actuator.